Ian Goldin

Leading economist champions the cause of global migration

Educated in Cape Town, London and Oxford, Ian Goldin can well be described as a student of the world. And as a leading global economist who has worked in the UK, France, the US and South Africa, he is a citizen of the world as well.

In London, Goldin was Principal Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He then moved to Paris to become Director of Trade, Environment and Sustainable Development for the OECD. He returned to his native South Africa for a five-year spell as CEO and MD of that country’s development bank and a close advisor to then President Nelson Mandela. Goldin followed that by moving to New York to become a vice-president of the World Bank. Today he is a senior professor at Oxford University.

Not surprisingly, Goldin is a huge advocate for global migration. His championship of the free movement of people includes the publication of his book “Exceptional People: How Migration Shaped Our World and will Define Our Future”.

“The statistical and general information used throughout the site, together with its acknowledged sources, has been taken, often ad verbatim and in very generous supply from Professor Ian Goldin’s reference book – “Exceptional People – How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future”. Used gratefully by kind permission”.